Mario Badescu Acne Repair Kit

I’ve spent a large proportion of my life battling acne and spending obscene amounts of money on trying to find any kind of treatment that’ll, if not cure, then at least improve the state of my skin. Very rarely did I come across anything that made a significant impact, but this kit – whilst not curative – made a real impression on both me and my skin. Whilst I don’t need to use this as frequently as I used to, I lost the Drying Cream and found it today which really pleased me as it’s amazing when hormonal breakouts arrive!

Contained in the pack are three products: Drying Lotion, Drying Cream and the Buffering Lotion.

The Drying Lotion for me is the best product in this kit as it’s really effective at drying spots out quickly; both fully formed pimples and those that are starting to push through the skin. I can also rely on this to calm down my chin (which is my worst area for breaking out) either during a breakout, or when I feel one arriving. It’s a thick pink liquid housed in a thinner clear liquid and you use a cotton bud to dip all the way into the pink liquid (which sits at the bottom – you don’t shake it to mix it) then you apply it to the spot or spotty area. It then dries to a kind of clay like finish and you leave it on overnight. It isn’t the most attractive or subtle treatment as you are pretty much highlighting your spots! I’ve read that people find this dries the skin and causes flaking, although I’ve never had this problem, but this treatment is intended for spot treating rather than covering areas of inflamed skin. I always wake to significantly reduced spots come the morning.

The Drying Cream is a beige coloured cream that you apply sparingly (so sparingly that I can’t imagine how anyone would ever finish a pot!) over areas that are inflamed or prone to breakouts. It’s a little bit like a make-up as it does tone down redness and therefore can be used under make-up, although I wouldn’t recommend this as this treatment did dry my skin out. I tend to use it when I get in and take my make-up off; I just feel better treating breakout prone areas rather than letting my skin breath if I feel like a breakout coming on.

The Buffering Lotion is aimed at tackling under the skin blemishes (like cystic acne that might be working it’s way up to the surface) and you apply it in a thin layer before spot treating. This is my least favourite product, mainly because it feels really harsh and really dries the area out. I can’t verify whether it works on under-surface blemishes as I didn’t really need to use it. This can also be used as an under mask treatment; apply it, let it dry, then apply your mask just to give your skin an extra punch of treatment.

So if you’re struggling to find anything that works, then this is definitely a kit to look into. Mario Badescu is an American company, but you can purchase this kit at BeautyBay here.